The Hero Role
by headshotFox
Summary: How are you supposed to fight a god that controls your only way back to salvation? Easy, equip yourself for battle and take on the hero role! Watch as our hero Jaune Arc takes on the name 'D'Arc' and fights his way through Sword Art Online, a game where there is no revival.
1. The World of Swords

**Sword Art Online kinda sucked. Like I enjoyed it, **

Chapter 1: The World of Swords

"Hey Dad, I'm gonna play my game for a bit okay!?"

Fifteen year old Jaune Arc poked his head out of his bedroom door to hear his Father's reply, which was a 'sure thing son!'

The knight-in-training grabbed a helmet and quickly plugged the wire attached into his nearby computer, he then grabbed a small cartridge and placed in the back of his helmet. He jumped onto his bed and then hastily put the helmet on.

Jaune laid himself down and flicked a switch at the side of his helmet. He shouted out a command:

"Link start!"

His computer gave out a quick release of air, to signify it's startup. A visor shot out of his helmet and produced pictures, Jaune smiled excitedly as his helmet checked all of his senses. Once everything came up okay, it asked him a question:

_Use your previous beta profile?_

Jaune 'clicked' yes and the helmet started to play the game. As he let himself get lost in the game and let out a sigh as a familiar screen showed up.

_Welcome to Sword Art Online_

* * *

When he entered the game, he looked around at the crowd around him. All of the avatars had smiles on their faces and were chatting to the people next to them, already sending invites for parties.

He shook his head and frowned, he always liked forming parties in games but if he learned anything from the beta, it was that quests were limited. Which meant players were vicious. Unless, they save you from a boss. Then they're legit.

Dashing off to the forest outside the Town of Beginnings, he couldn't help but get a weird feeling in his gut. He shook it off as being hungry in real life but it loomed over him like a dark cloud, it didn't feel like hunger. It felt more like, something bad wasn't going to happen.

* * *

And it did.

The creator of Sword Art Online, Akihiko Kayaba had appeared before him and the other players, explaining to them the absence of the logout button. Jaune gritted his teeth as the the robed, hooded form of the creator spoke.

"This not a defect in the game," he had repeated. Idly swinging his hand around to demonstrate the error in the menu.

"It is a new feature of Sword Art Online, you cannot log out of the game. Nor can anyone on the outside shut down or remove the Nervegear, as a wave would activate as you remove the helmet. Thus ending your life" the player mumbled and shouted at Akihiko. They demanded him to fix the problem, let them out or to stop pretending, Jaune narrowed his eyes.

'_He's right, the transmitter works like a microwave and could fry our brains!" _The beta-tester looked around to see some people trying to leave, but being blocked by some sort of force field.

"Over two hundred people have died as a result of removing the helmet, they are no longer in the game or in the real world." Jaune gasped as images of news broadcasts appeared around the creator, all of them showing the deaths of players and mourning families.

"But I want you to remember this; there is now no way to revive a player in the game, once your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be lost and as a result." Jaune shook his head, he whispered the same sentence as the Akihiko in a hush tone.

"The Nervegear will destroy your brain," Jaune gripped his chest in an attempt to calm his beating heart. A memory of him dying in the beta flashed before his eyes and he gulped down a sob, he was stuck here.

"There is only one means of escape," Jaune looked up at the creator and growled. The way he said it seemed nonchalant, as if this was a burden on him.

"Complete all one hundred floors of Aincrad, from this point floor one. Once you beat Aincrad, you will be able to leave the game," Jaune's breathing picked up. There was no way, he nor the other beta testers even made it close to beating the game.

"Finally, I added a present in your item storage. Please see for yourself," Jaune flicked his hand and entered into his inventory.

'_Mirror?'_

Selecting the mirror, the item appeared and fell into his hand. His avatar, which essentially looked like an older version of himself stared back at him. A second later, he was engulfed in a bright light, as was the rest of the players.

Jaune groaned slightly and blinked, he then looked back at the item in his hand.

His appearance had changed, he looked normal. And had, had he shrunk?

'_The Nervegear must've scanned my face, that and the calibration I did would've gave it my height!'_ The creator continued on but Jaune's swirling head refused to let him listen, only letting him hear parts.

"To create a world and intervene in it!" The young boy snapped his eyes to Akihiko's deflating form, that was it? This?

'_To play god was his goal? He wants to be a god?' _The force field around the players deactivated, but everyone was too distracted to care. Jaune ran past the stunned players, the fear making him run faster than he ever did in the beta.

"I want to go home," he whispered as he exited the Town of Beginnings. He probably ran half way there when a wolf spawned a bit ahead of him, as fast as he was running, he swiftly pulled his broadsword out it's sheath.

'_I can't beat a man who's the god of my only escape!'_

As he approached, his broadsword gained a yellow hue. The more the gap closed between him and his enemy, the more his sword glowed. Jaune leaped forward with his sword raised, a trace of yellow following his swords movement.

'_A god, how is he a god?'_

The wolf lunged forward, his gnarly teeth ready to rip Jaune to a scred. With a cry, Jaune swung down his blade, effectively jamming the sword into the wolf's head. It whimpered and slashed at Jaune, cutting his hand before it burst into pixels.

The knight kept running, simply clicking past whatever reward he got and quickly looking at his hand.

A small bit of blood dripped off his hand and as Jaune ran, he couldn't help but gaze at the crimson leaking down his arm. Taking a breath, he made his hand form a fist, trapping the blood in the palm of his hand.

'_He's not, he the bad guy! The ones like Grandfather fought!' _

"I'll make it home," he grinned and dashed forward, his eyes planted firmly on a town on the horizon.

"I'm going to beat the bad guy! I'm gonna be the hero!"

* * *

**Oh look at that, SAO crossover.**

**Huh,**

**Well, suppose this is it guys. I successfully made a cover that doesn't look too bad and I really like what I wrote, so hope you enjoy. By the way, I have big exams like, in four weeks, so I may or may not be able to log on much in terms of updating things.**

**June 18th is when all my exams are finished, so not then. Oh no, I'll be out celebrating my freedom for a year before more big exams.**

**[still don't accept any criticism tho]**


	2. Team Player

**So I'll might update here and there for the duration of the time between now and June 18th.**

**Oh and someone thinks this is a multi pairing story but no, it's not. I marked it as Blake/Jaune and Yang is there for reasons that are pretty obvious.**

Chapter 2: Team Player

_-Jaune Arc's Note Number One-_

_Still haven't been able to sleep since the opening, it's getting pretty bad. Everytime I close my eyes and start to drift off, my brain starts to remind me of all the things I care about on the outside._

_It's like the nerve gear is purposely trying to depress me..._

_Or maybe, my brain just wants to guilt me awake to train more._

_I feel so on edge._

* * *

One month had passed since Sword Art Online was announced to be a trap made to lure players into the creator's twisted world, the first floor had yet to be cleared and yet two thousand players have died.

Jaune leaned against a pillar in a small open area in the town he was currently in, half listening to the self proclaimed knight Diabel talk about ways to beat the first floor boss.

"So I'd like you all to form a party so that we can beat this boss!" The blonde stumbled, they found the boss?

Should he have been paying proper attention? Nah.

He watched as players walked towards each other, already flicking their hands, sending requests to make their parties. The boy scratched the back of his neck, he really wasn't good at socialising. Nor did he like forming teams with strangers, especially in the certain circumstances.

As Jaune muddled his head for ideas on what to do, he felt his shoulder be tapped. Turning around, he was greeted by two players. The worst kind of players…

Girls.

He didn't have anything against girl gamers, no not in the sort. But it wasn't easy for him to talk to the opposite sex, regardless on how much or little he says.

The blonde player gave him a smirk as she put her hand on her hip. She was dressed in the standard starter clothing, however her weapon was a high grade dagger. He would've commented on her extravagant hair or her appearance, but he was distracted by the other girl.

The girl had a black velveteen bow on the top of her head, which Jaune presumed was on her person when she first started the game. The bow almost blended in with her pitch black hair, as well as the rest of her outfit. Draped over her starter armor was a black cloak, this was the Black Fox's Embrace.

You got this cloak by fighting the standard fox enemies out at the rim of the first floor, however a black fox enemy only as a twenty percent chance of spawning and not only that, the chance of them dropping this item was lower than two percent.

The black haired girl kept a blank face, her narrow gaze examining him. Jaune felt a twist in his chest, this girl was odd. He'd have to keep his guard up around her.

"Hey there Killer! You a loner too?" Jaune tried to respond back but couldn't quite find the words, was he supposed to answer that truthfully? Because if he was to, yes, yes all the way.

"Yeah, I don't know anyone here either. 'Cept gloomy over here! Took me forever to get her to join my party!" She gestured the black haired girl with her thumb, the latter simply deadpanned.

"It was two minutes and I said no once," the blonde girl pushed the other girl slightly.

"Forever!" Jaune gave a small, quiet laugh at the two's antics.

"So you two friends from the outside?" Both shook their heads, which shocked Jaune. They seem so comfortable with each other, anyone could've thought they knew each other before the game.

"So Killer, wanna join our dynamic duo?" The blonde was interrupted by a verbal jab from her teammate.

"It'll hardly be a duo if he joins," the blonde girl glared back at the bow wearing girl.

"Then we'll be a triumphant trio, now shut up!" She stuck out her tongue before pushing a stray strand of blonde hair from her eyes, returning her attention back to Jaune.

"So wanna join?"

Jaune didn't like parties, he had stated this before. But these girls were so open and seemed so nice, sure, the one with the cloak seemed a bit iffy with him but he could overlook this for a little while.

He gave the two a toothy smile.

"Sure, for a bit!"

* * *

"Yeah, my sis just started designing this wicked scythe, apparently she gonna put a gun in the staff! I use gauntlets myself," Jaune hummed in response.

The impromptu trio walked the streets of the town. The blonde, whose username was Yin, had talked for the duration of the walk. Donna, the mystery wrapped in black, simply read a small handbook.

"You two are so boring, D'Arc, can you say something more than 'okay' and 'oh' seriously!" Jaune perked up at the sound of his username, he thought about all the things she had talked about and chose a sound statement.

"Your hair looks especially nice," Yin grinned and then started to ramble on about the many conditioners she uses. Donna caught up to his pace.

"Good job, that'll keep her busy for the rest of the day." Jaune chuckled in response, he whispered back to her.

"Or at least until the next turn," the two gave their own quiets snickers. Jaune enjoyed the moment, the two hadn't interacted at all without using Yin as some sort of middleman. As plain as the moment was, the sentiment was still there.

The both returned their attention to Yin, who was giving them a cheeky grin.

"Ohhh I see~! Distract me and get the girl huh? Daring tactics there buddy!" Jaune blinked, he didn't understand what she meant. She wrapped her arm around his neck and ruffled his hair, winking at Donna.

"To be honest, she wants the Arc D if you know what I mean," he didn't know what she meant. But by the way Donna was blushing and hissing, he could tell it was something somewhat playful. So he laughed, not any of the quiet chuckles he usually did over the past month. A hearty one, one that bellowed in his throat.

The thought of tomorrow's first assault on the boss of floor one didn't cross his mind as the three walked towards the inn, Yin's arm still wrapped around Jaune's neck and Donna with not a single book in her hand.

Jaune felt at ease.

* * *

**Ah friendship, such a sight. Especially in a game where there's no respawns. **

**PUTTING THIS IN CAPS SO YOU PAY ATTENTION, THE SHOT HAS TO BE REWRITTEN BECAUSE MONTY FUCKED UP MY TIMELINE.**

**But don't get me wrong, the man's a cosplay blessing.**


	3. Beacon

**Eyyyyyyy**

Chapter 3: Beacon

The large ominous doors gave out a creak as the defensive players pushed it open, blue smoke creeped around Jaune's and his teammates' feet. A blue glow tried to make itself known through the thick smoke.

His ears picked up the deep inhales and exhales of the first floor clearing party, yet not a single person uttered a word.

He looked to his right at Yin, a single sweatdrop traced her brow. She noticed his gaze and looked back at him, Jaune stared back before he gave her a nod. Yin looked back at the door, grabbing his hand in tight grip as she took in a deep breath.

In response, Jaune gripped her hand, hoping that it would reassure her. He never thought he would have to reassure someone in his life, always being the one that needed to be calmed down. Shaking his head, he looked to the left, looking at Donna in the hopes of distracting himself from his thoughts.

As calm as she stood, head held high and her shoulders, he could somehow tell she was scared. Jaune didn't really know how he knew this, but discarding the thought, he grabbed her hand.

Donna's head jolted to look at him, she shifted her gaze quickly between him and their joined hands. Setting her eyes back to look at his, amber bore into blue. A moment passed before both returned their attention to the creaking door.

All three gripped their teammates' hands.

* * *

"Donna!" Jaune jumped backwards, allowing Donna to slash Illfang with her katana. Spinning around, he knelt and cupped his hands. Yin dashed forward, as her foot landed on Jaune's hands, he threw her upwards so that she was above the boss. Holding her dagger in a reverse hold, she used her momentum from falling to cause a long cut of data on his back.

Landing, she dodged the creature's axe.

"Let's see Peter Pan beat that!" Yin exclaimed as she ran behind Donna, who swiped at the creature twice in an 'X' shaped fashion, quickly leaving the creature's reach after her action.

"Stay focused Yin," Jaune charged his broadsword and launched himself towards Illfang. Sliding pass the beast, he managed to deliver enough damage to the boss to it's fourth health bar.

The commander gave a shout to players;

"Get ready for the nodachi!"

The boss' weapons clattered to the floor, it's clawed hand pulled out a katana. Jaune held his sword in front of him, alarmed by the weapon the creature produced.

"Back up, this wasn't in the beta!" The commander readied himself to strike at the beast but was interrupted by a four hit combo, the player was already disintegrating into flickers of data. As he hit the ground, he ultimately disappeared.

Jaune gasped at the sight and glared at the beast, who walked towards him. He raised his sword above his head and charged it. Swinging the blade, a crescent shape of yellow energy hit the beast, causing a significant amount of damage.

"Yin, Donna! Go for it!" The two jumped to his side, the three launched themselves at the beast.

Yin spun under the boss' katana, still spinning, she charged her dagger and hit Illfang six times .with her blazing dagger, Donna shortly followed with a charged aerial attack, her katana taking on a purple hue.

Illfang lifted his blade and swung it at Yin, Jaune jumped forward and blocked the attack. He quickly charged his sword again and used the power to push back the beast. As the boss was stunned, Jaune leaped forward. His broadsword took on it's yellow hue once again, as it did when he fought the wolf on his way to Horunka village.

As he swung down in his aerial attack, Illfang gained it's bearings and swiped at Jaune's stomach. Jaune closed his eyes and waited for impact, only to hear a clash of steel.

Opening them, Donna's cloak caught his eye. Her katana slicing off the beast's arm. He landed on the ground and charged his blade once more. Jaune gave a yell as he dashed towards Illfang, sword at his side.

Launching himself forward, his blade sliced through the beast's stomach. Illfang's health dropped to zero and began to disappear as Jaune tripped and skidded on his knees.

As he went to a stop, he looked back at his teammates. All three took deep breaths, as they looked at each other. Jaune stood up and walked towards them, Donna and Yin did the same.

They all ignored the creak of metal doors and the cheers of their fellow players as they finally reached each other, their breaths were ragged from the energy they had just used. Jaune choked down what he thought was a heavy sigh, but as tears ran down his face, he realised it was a sob. Yin wiped her eyes, laughing as water streamed from her eyes.

"We did it, we fucking did it!" Donna rubbed her eyes as well, trying to hide the fact she was crying. Yin grabbed Donna's and Jaune's arms, pulling them into a hug. After a second of shock, Jaune wrapped his arms around the two girls. Donna stiffened but relaxed, letting out a sob despite her efforts to remain calm.

"Thank you, for fighting with me," Donna sobbed out. Her hands gripped the back of both Jaune's and Yin's shirts. The three stood together, letting tears of happiness stream down their faces as they hugged each other.

Through Jaune's watery eyes, he smiled as he saw a message being displayed before him.

_Congratulations__!_

* * *

The three members of the final assault team, dubbed by the other players, sat at the local inn. Filling their empty, but virtual, stomach with food.

"So, I gotta ask, whatcha gonna do when ya get out of here?" Yin picked up a piece of her food as she rested her head lazily on her hand. Jaune swallowed a piece of his food and looked back at the blonde girl.

Donna rested her book on the tabled before answering.

"I'm going to train to go to Beacon," Yin jolted up from her relaxed position. She shoved her face to Donna's.

"Seriously?! Me too! Ah sweet, this gonna be great!" Jaune smiled and looked at the two.

"I was hoping to go as well, maybe we could meet up in person," Yin scoffed. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, her nose up in the air.

"Maybe my ass, I'll make sure you're on my team. I'm going to drag you guys back into a team if it kills me!" Donna's shoulders stiffened at the thought.

'_Meeting, in person?' _She frowned and looked down at her book, muddling the thought in her head. Jaune noticed her troubled expression.

"Donna, you okay?" The black cloaked girl flinched at the sound of her username, she looked up to see her teammate's gazes upon her.

"D'Arc, Yin. What if, I wasn't the same as I was here?" The two blonde's looked at each other and then back at the girl.

"In what way?" Yin leaned on the table, a serious expression on her face. Jaune looked at the girl with concern. The black bowed girl looked at her book once again.

"I-I, I can't say. At least, not yet…" Silence took the reigns over the moment. Jaune looked between a nervous Donna and a slightly suspicious Yin, sighing, he was the first to speak.

"You saved my life back there, if you weren't what you said or looked like outside of this game, I wouldn't care. You're a good person Donna, that's not something that won't be a part of you outside." The girl looked up at him in shock before smiling at the boy.

"Thank you D'Arc, for understanding," Jaune smiled back at the girl. The two smiled at eachother before Yin wrapped her arm around Jaune's shoulders. Motioning a finger towards her open mouth, she made a gagging noise.

"Jesus, keep in the bedroom will you!" Donna blushed and threw her book at Yin's head, who dodged it and let it hit Jaune's. The force made his chair fall down, along with him. The two girls rushed towards him.

"Oh god, D'Arc, I'm sorry!" Shaking his head to get rid of his dazed view, he looked up. Donna stood over him with a worried expression while Yin stood over him, sniggering profusely.

"Dude, you look so freaking funny!" The blonde girl gave a snort as the other girl shoved her for her behaviour. Jaune stared at both of them and blurted out the first thought that came out of his head.

"Do you guys wanna form a guild?!"

* * *

Jaune sighed as he walked through the town of Taft on floor eleven, his hands stuck into his Veil of the Blessed. The black cloak, traced with an almost glowing gold fluttered in the wind. He walked past the armor shop and looked around, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Where are they? Seriously, you give them one job and they never follow it!" Jaune mused as he swiped for his menu, lazily looking through his abilities.

"D'Arc!" Jaune looked over his shoulder and then returned his attention to the menu, he quickly closed it and turned around. Donna, wrapped in the Cloak of Midnight, ran towards him. Halting to stop, she waved a pair of keys.

"Got the keys for the house on the twenty seventh floor, Yin said she had enough to buy all of new weapons and said she was going to wait for us up in the inn near the house." Jaune smiled and they both started to walk towards the teleporter, the two walked in silence until Donna spoke up.

"Thanks again, for giving me the attack bonus." Jaune groaned and playfully shoved her.

"For the last time, it was no problem. Now stop thanking me," Donna shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"No, you didn't have to give it to me and yet, you hand me such a rare item without any sort of doubt in your mind. It kind of worries me, that you do things so impulsively," Jaune pouted at the comment. He put his hands together and lifted them behind his head.

"You're making it seem like you want me to want something in return," Donna gave him a sly smirk and lifted her head, peering at him in the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, yet another shot in the dark that hit the target! How do you do it, my dear, dear D'Arc?" The beta-tester stuck out his tongue at the girl before placing his hand on his chin, adopting a thoughtful expression.

"How about a favour? A single, unrestricted favour I can use whenever I want!" Donna narrowed her amber eyes at the boy before shrugging her cloaked shoulders.

"Sure, a favour. Now let's get Yin before she wanders off to the tavern," Donna sped off in the direction of the teleporter, leaving Jaune in her dust.

"H-Hey! Donna, wait up!" Yelling as he dashed off, following her dash to the teleporter, his eyes couldn't help but look at the icon above his health bar. Smiling at the two yellow axes embraced by a single, black circle.

The symbol of the famous Shining Beacon guild.

* * *

**Some might say they were too emotional, I say it's a freaking death game.**


End file.
